Greenbrier Cos. pleased with 1Q numbers

The Greenbrier Cos. early Wednesday reported its fiscal first-quarter results for the period ending Nov. 30, 2012, and indicated satisfaction with the outcome.

Net earnings were $10.4 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, on revenue of $415.4 million, the Lake Oswego, Ore.-based company said. That beat Wall Street consensus estimates of 31 cents per diluted share on $400 million in revenue. But most of the numbers trailed earnings of $14.5 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, in its FY12 first quarter, on revenue of $444 million.

New rail car deliveries were 2,900 units in the first quarter, a strong start to the year, the company said. The company on Monday noted that since the company's fiscal 2013 year began Sept. 1, 2012, it has received orders for 4,200 new rail car units, valued at more than $430 million. Of those, 1,400 units were received during the quarter, while another 2,800 units were added subsequent to quarter's end.

Also subsequent to quarter's end, Greenbrier received a multiyear award to perform repair and refurbishment work worth an anticipated $12 million. It also received awards for two multiyear management services contracts, estimated to be worth $3.5 million when fully implemented in fiscal year 2014.

Greenbrier's new railcar manufacturing backlog as of Nov. 30 was 9,700 units, valued at $1.11 billion, compared with 10,700 units estimated to be worth $1.2 billion as of Aug. 31, 2012.

Said President and CEO William A. Furman, "We are pleased with our solid quarterly results. Our visibility is growing as the result of major new orders. We expect financial momentum will continue to build sequentially throughout the year, in line with earlier guidance. In North America, we continue tor ramp up our higher margin tank car production capacity through calendar 2014. We expect to beat an annual run rate of about 3,800 tank cars in North America by December 2013.

"At the same time, we are seeing more diversified demand for our products and services, as well as among railcar types, including automotive, forest products, and intermodal," Furman said. He noted the company has "orders for 4,200 new railcar units in North America and Europe, of which 1,400 were automotive related, 1,250 were tank cars, with the balance including covered hopper cars, gondolas for scrap steel, and other car types. "